The songwriter Stéphane Venne attracted the wrath of several people by commenting on a photo of the Quebec author, director and feminist Léa Clermont-Dion, suggesting that she adopted a “hyper-known sexual code”.
“Since the world began, this pose (neck tilted sideways or backwards, mouth open) has been a sexual code widely known to both men and women, and both in real life and in art, it is a kind of prompt,” he wrote on the social network X, a comment he has since deleted.
It was only Monday, five days after publication, that Léa Clermont-Dion made a public statement on this subject.
“Stéphane Venne, a great lyricist whom I esteem, I am saddened to see your posture so degrading towards women. And the flood of uninhibited comments that arise from your speech, which is reminiscent of Incel thinking, is pure and simple misogyny,” she said on Instagram.
The latter also affirmed that such a situation justified the relevance of her new essay, Hi, how are you?published on September 16, a work in which the author addresses the theme of sexual violence.
Quickly, many people came to support the woman behind the documentary I salute you bitch.
“Through the mouth of which cannon to respond, to ensure that he does not see it as an invitation? I am dismayed each time that I am no longer as dismayed as I should be,” said host and writer Valérie Chevalier.
“????? X 1000. I am stunned, nay, stunned by so much wandering and prejudice,” added, for his part, Guy A. Lepage.
In the evening on Monday, Stéphane Venne retracted his statement and apologized to Léa Clermont-Dion.
“My comment should have remained directly linked to the photo, period. Presuming as I did about the intentions or the character of the person photographed (Léa Clermont-Dion) was 100% UN-documented, irrelevant, therefore an argumentative error… but in no way misogynistic. Because not only would I have said the same thing if it had been a guy who gave himself a seductive look, but I would never reproach a woman or a man for trying to seduce. I just reacted erratically to the fact that I was violently accused of seeing an intention to seduce in a photo. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to seduce [sic]“, he wrote in a long tweet which he concluded by apologizing.
